by Blake, Remy
Ms. Martínez dismisses the class before I leave the front of the room. She places a hand on my arm to stop me from walking away.
“You should be proud, Connor. You did a fantastic job.” Her use of my actual name doesn’t go unnoticed by me. In fact, my chest tightens in reaction. I could be wrong, but it seems like she didn’t want to call me by another name.
“Thank you. It was easier than I expected.”
“You were very natural and comforting to her predicament. If this is any indication of how you’ll deal with clients when you’re an attorney, I think you’ll be great.”
“Thanks. I’m actually taking this class because my grandfather suggested it.”
“Well, your grandfather sounds like a smart man. Being bilingual is always helpful for businesses. I’m surprised that people still don’t realize how much so.”
“How did you know I wanted to be an attorney anyway?”
“I might be new to the area, but I don’t live under a rock. McAdam Law Offices are hard to miss. Every time I turn on the television or social media, I see an ad with your father. You look a lot like him.”
I scowl and scoff. “Physical appearance is the only way I’m like him.”
She angles her head and gives a slight nod. “You’re free to go now. I’ll see you tomorrow night at seven sharp.”
“No worries. I added it to my calendar and set an alarm to remind me.” I wink and turn away, heading back to my seat. I shove my laptop back in my backpack and sling the strap over my shoulder. When I reach the doorway, I raise my hand in a quick wave to Harper. Things felt better between us today. After last night I wasn’t sure how she’d act, but I should’ve known she’d be professional and courteous.
Stepping outside, the cool breeze whips up and I’m thankful for the hoodie I threw on at the last minute before I left my house. This weather is a drastic difference from the shorts wearing temps of the past weekend.
“Connor, what’s up?”
My head swivels to the side and I notice Janie, one of Chrissy’s friends, a girl I’ve hooked up with a few times. “Hey. How’s it going?” I shift direction, moving her way.
She shrugs. “I’m good. I haven’t seen you for a while, though. Where’ve you been hiding?”
“I haven’t been hiding at all. I’ve been at all the usual parties. You must be the one missing.”
“And you haven’t even noticed,” she teases, placing her hand on my arm.
I smile at her. “I’m a busy guy.” My gaze shifts to the side, catching Harper lowering It’s good seeing you. I need to run to my class.”
onto a bench in a seating area set in the small park across from the school. Her eyes seem to be locked on the two of us. She doesn’t look happy that Janie is talking to me. This is poetic justice considering we were interrupted in her office and this seems like an opportunity to even the score, somewhat. Reaching over, I rub Janie’s shoulder and swing my gaze Harper’s way. Frowning, her lips are pressed tightly together. I smirk and turn back to Janie.
“She looks disappointed. “Okay. Maybe I’ll see you at the next party.” She smiles brightly.
“You just might.” Strolling away, I chuckle to myself. Harper isn’t as unaffected by me as she pretends. This attraction goes both ways. Now what are we going to do about it?
* * *
I arrive at Harper’s office with three minutes to spare. “Knock, knock,” I say as I step through the open door.
“Hey.” She smiles. “Can you close that, please?” She gestures to the door with a lift of her chin.
“No problem.” I turn and grip the knob, smiling. Enjoying the idea of being alone, I’m almost tempted to close and lock it. I’d like to see what kind of expression she’d be wearing if I did.
“Have a seat and I’ll be right with you.”
She doesn’t tell me where to sit, so I choose the futon. I’d rather have her next to me, close enough to smell her tempting scent, than across from me at her desk.
Sinking down onto the black cushion, I glance around her office. My gaze zeroes in on a picture of her surrounded by four guys. These must be her brothers. At least I hope they are and not some weird reverse harem relationship. I’m good, but even I can’t compete with four guys.
She removes her glasses and rubs the corners of her eyes before sliding them on once more. Rising from her chair, she maneuvers around her desk and crosses the small space to take a seat beside me. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I wanted to finish grading some papers.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I point to the picture I noticed earlier. “Are those your brothers?”
She nods, smiling. “They are.”
“Are you the youngest?” I shift my weight, bumping her knee with mine.
She doesn’t move away. “Yeah. And they never let me forget it.”
“I bet. Your boyfriends must have been put through hell by them.”
She frowns, but it’s so quick I wonder if I imagined it. “Yes, they did. Some more than others.”
“You said you just started working here this year. Are you from this area?”
She stalls before answering, indecision all over her face. “No. I’m actually from California,” she says, finally answering. She leans her elbow on the back of the futon, twisting her upper body to face mine.
“What part?”
“San Diego. Have you ever been there?” I watch her mouth. She notices, slowly slicking her tongue along the plump bottom lip.
“I have, actually. But I was only ten and my father had business to take care of, so I didn’t get to see much beyond the hotel room. I’m not sure why my mother and I went on that trip in the first place.”
“It’s a great area,” she informs me proudly. “You should go back sometime.”
“You know, I might do that. I like to travel. Is this the first time you’ve been so far from home?”
“Yep. Before this, I’d only gotten as far as Texas.”
“You must miss your family.”
“I do, very much.” The sadness in her tone is unmissable, and I can’t help but wonder what brought her here. “But it’s also nice to be on my own for a change with no one to look over my shoulder and tell me what I’m doing wrong.”
“You make mistakes?” I scoff. “I bet that doesn’t happen very often.”
She arches an elegant brow. “I make them as much as the next person.”
“I have a hard time believing that.”
“What about you?” she asks, changing the subject. “Any siblings?”
I shake my head. “Nope, just me. The parents quit after me because they couldn’t do any better.” I wink.
A sexy chuckle slips out of her mouth. “Suuure. That’s it.”
“No, really, I think they tried and just never were able to have any more. I’ve never really asked.”
She nods in understanding. “What town did you grow up in?”
“Potomac, Maryland.”
“Do you miss living at home?”
“Hell no. I barely like to visit now.”
“That’s kind of sad. I’m not sure how I’d handle feeling like that about my own family.”
“Consider yourself lucky that you don’t. And I’m not like that about my entire family. I love my grandparents very much. My parents are an acquired taste for most. And I might be for some too.”
10
Harper
Sitting in my office, side by side with Connor, and listening to him open up about his family makes me miss mine even more. I could never imagine being so apathetic toward my own blood. I wasn’t raised like that, and it’s sad to see that Connor was.
It’s obvious it isn’t by choice, rather a survival tactic because his parents seem too focused on appearances to understand the inner workings of their only child.
His smug, carefree attitude makes more sense now the more time I spend around him. Turns out, the way he uncharacteristically worried about his grade wasn’t out of charact
er at all. Torn in two, Connor is trying to balance the man he wants to be and the man he’s expected to be.
It’s strange how in tune I feel to his situation; my need to do what’s right by my family, the priority at any cost to my actual happiness.
The only difference is, I know they’ll be there at the end of it all, with open arms and grateful hearts.
I hope whatever it is Connor is striving for works out in the end.
Surprised by the ease and comfort between us, I shift and rise off the futon, heeding the red flags.
He’s been flirting with me for the better half of this semester, and in the occasional moments where my guard is down, I indulge in it. I encourage it. And more often than not, I find myself wanting more of it.
I tell myself it’s because I was used to Anthony. Having a man around, having someone be attentive to me. Wanting me.
Maybe Cole is on to something when he’s constantly telling me to go out and find someone to warm my bed. But I’ve never been a causal sex type of girl. I don’t think I’d know how to keep my feelings out of it if I tried.
Blue eyes watch me as I begin to pace the room, and I’m starting to realize he enjoys making me squirm. This isn’t some innocent ploy on his part. For someone who has a lot to lose by not being a rule abiding student, he seems to enjoy playing with fire when it comes to me.
In any other circumstances I’d be flattered, but with everything we’re working so hard for at stake, it would be best if I keep rejecting his advances.
“How about we get back to the tutoring phase of the session,” I say.
“Tutoring is all about learning isn’t it? And I think we were learning a whole lot about each other just then, wouldn’t you say?”
I glare at him. “Are you trying to get me fired?”
He jumps off the futon. “What? Why would you say that?”
“I just can’t figure you out.” I throw my hands up in the air in frustration. “You make sure you’re everywhere I turn.”
In a few steps he’s in front of me, grabbing my hand and pulling me to him. We’re close. Too close. My chest rising and falling against his.
“Well, you’re gorgeous, and I’m sick of tiptoeing around it.”
“Tiptoeing,” I quip. “Guapo, if what you’re doing is tiptoeing, I would hate to see you walking around on the flats of your feet.”
“You don’t think I’m subtle?” he teases.
“I think you need to forget whatever teacher-student fantasy you’ve got in that boyish brain of yours.”
“There’s nothing boyish about me.”
God, I hate that he’s right; everything about him screams man. It doesn’t matter that I know he’s my student. It doesn’t matter that his age is plastered all over his files. It doesn’t even matter that he’s here in my office, where hundreds of students have sat and spoken to me before him.
It’s all futile.
Because he really is a man. A sexy, cocky, self-assured man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
With his sandy blond hair, blue eyes, god-like jawline, and kissable lips. I wonder if any woman has been able to say no to him.
“What’s it going to be, Harper?”
“It’s Ms. Martínez,” I correct, my voice laced with false bravado as I try to hold on to any reminder of why this shouldn’t happen.
Hands confidently skate down the sides of my body, fingers lodging themselves onto my waist. He squeezes my flesh, pulling me against his growing erection. He lowers his mouth to my ear. “Does it feel boyish to you?”
There’s a telltale hitch in my breath that spills all my secrets. I want him.
Hands slide down the globes of my ass, squeezing me tight. “This was the first thing I noticed about you,” he whispers. “How everything you wore hugged it just right.” He begins to walk us back, waiting for the edge of the desk to stop us. “The simple sway of your hips, teasing me day in, day out.”
There’s a firm grip on my thigh as he hitches my leg around his waist. His other hand tips my head back, exposing the long arch of my neck.
His mouth moves from my collarbone and soft lips dance their way up the length of my neck. It’s a ghost of a touch, a promise of something more, and my pulse races from his taunts.
Just as I anticipate his kiss, he stops, his eyes flicking over to meet mine. His gaze on me is potent, his pupils like the center of a fire waiting to burn.
“But your mouth. Your fucking mouth,” he grits out. “I’ve never wanted anything more than this.”
He takes hold of my chin, his touch a little less than delicate. “Can I have it?”
There‘s a rough edge to his voice. His words seeking permission, but the tone demanding it all the same. Paired with the dominance of his height and strength over me, my ability to speak is lost. The struggle to catch a breath is real, but it’s the soft moan that leaves my lips and fills the room that pushes him over the edge.
His mouth greedily descends over mine, and I feel every one of my carefully constructed walls crumble. Piles of debris now around us, nothing left in between.
Connor’s lips move against mine; hunger and desperation his only speed. As we become acquainted with one another, our tongues explore the unknown and get high on the taste of the forbidden.
“This is even better than I imagined,” he pants, his mouth now dropping open-mouthed kisses down my neck.
“You imagined kissing me?” I breathe out.
His head whips up, desire dancing in his eyes. “Kissing you. Fucking you. I’ve imagined it all.”
The once small seed of want nestled in my lower stomach has flourished into an untameable frenzy of lust.
Needing friction, wanting to feel more, I press my palms to his chest, pushing him away.
“What?” he asks in a daze.
“Futon.”
I steer his body in the direction of the couch and push him till he’s sitting down. Climbing on top, I straddle him before smashing my mouth down on his.
A beautiful groan reverberates in his throat and I settle myself over his jean covered cock, just to hear it one more time.
“Jesus, Harper. You’re killing me.”
“Just doing my job,” I sass back before resuming our kiss. Squeezing my ass, he picks up speed. The strokes of his tongue against mine matching the way I’m brazenly rubbing up and down his dick.
Common sense has left the building as I feel myself transform from weary professor to a woman feeding her sexual appetite.
I’m hungry for him. Horny for him. And undeniably hung up on the way this feels. The way we feel.
“I want to see you come.”
“Like this?” I ask, a little confused. A lot breathless.
“Yes,” he insists. “No hands, no mouth. No touching. Just you grinding on me and me watching you fall apart.”
Wanting nothing more than to please us both, I do as he asks.
“Put your hands behind your back,” he demands.
No questions asked, I clasp them together at the base of my spine.
His hands raise the hem of my shirt up my torso as he skilfully maneuvers it over my head. “You think I haven’t noticed how you try to cover up every time we’re alone together?”
He drags the sleeves of my shirt down my arms, ensuring an easy untangle isn’t an option. “Don’t do it,” he continues. “It only means more layers for me to take off.”
His eyes zero in on my breasts, the lace of my demi cup bra barely covering a thing.
“Fucking perfect,” he mutters. He dips his head into my cleavage and glides his tongue across the exposed flesh. Palming my tits, he gives them a last-minute squeeze before settling back into the futon.
Hands on my hips, he guides me back and forth along his shaft, our single goal back at the forefront.
Reluctantly adhering to his no touching rule, his hands drop to his sides. His eyes roam over every inch of me, his gaze setting me alight. Without a single touch, he still manage
s to devour me whole as I rock faster against his hard cock. “Now come.”
Two words. One demand.
Finding myself at the perfect angle, I give my body over to freedom and lose myself in the sensations. I feel like a madwoman, my body contorted and on display, carnal gratification my driving force. Goose bumps erupt on my skin as waves of pleasure begin to course through me. The kindling of my orgasm begins to catch fire underneath the surface, desperate to be set free.
Closing my eyes, I let my head fall back as my body coils in preparation. Every nerve ending tingles in anticipation while I slow down my movements and let the release take over my body.
“That’s it,” Connor coaxes, his husky voice adding a delicious layer of seduction to my already sated body. My body arches in satisfaction as a loud sigh of contentment fills the space between us.
It’s been so long since the tension rolled off me in waves like this. So long since I let myself just be. Let myself feel.
Coming down from the high, I feel Connor tugging the shirt off my arms, releasing them. He brings them round to my front and massages them back into comfort. Limp and in a fog, I let him take control, enjoying the moments before reality sets in.
Placing soft kisses on my breasts, he moves his mouth up my neck and onto my lips.
It’s slow and languid, unhurried and so different to before. I wrap my arms around his neck and deepen the kiss. Savoring the moment.
I feel his hard cock between my legs and peer back to look at him. “Do you want me to take care of that?”
He shakes his head. “If we do it all at once you won’t want me to come back.”
I let my head fall onto his shoulder. “Seems like you got it all figured out.”
“Enough to know I want it to happen again.”
He’s so sure. Certain that this thing with us can continue. “Harper, look at me.”
Reluctantly, I do.
“It’s going to happen again, right?”
I shift my body, trying to move off him, but his hands still me. “Where are you going?”
